28 March 2015

(Photo source Google)It is well known that the world's diamond center and second petro chemical center is in Belgium.Approximately 90% of raw diamonds in the world are either negotiated, polished and/or distributed in this beautiful city. Behold Antwerpen!And for those who love history...Here is a place you might not know of...THE RED STAR LINE MUSEUM

With their whole life packed in a few suitcases, millions of people sailed from Europe to America after 1800. The United States and Canada were the promised land for fortune seekers and everyone looking for a better life. For many people, the trip to the New World began in a warehouse in Antwerp. Red Star Line ocean steamers paved the way to a new life for about two million men, women and children between 1873 and 1934.The Red Star Line Museum is a journey to the past and an encounter with the present. Migration might have a different face these days, but the human side of migration is timeless and universal.

There are countless stories you might like such as Alexis De Laet's who left his native village of Burcht for Chicago in 1911. When World War I broke out he returned to Belgium to join the Belgian army.More (HERE)

Stunning and well worth visiting!Note to readers: This post reflects only my opinion and was not requested!

21 March 2015

My first sight as I reached home, always heartening!I only wish I could skip the flights and countless waiting times...Ah, to be like Captain Kirk and say::"Scotty, please beam us home!"First day of Spring here too! Enjoy!

17 March 2015

Never say Never was one of those phrases my Grandmother used to slip in conversations now and then.
Just so you know, I do not believe myself to be anything but organized (the key to success would have say that lovely relative of mine!), but as challenges seem to come my way, I find myself just hanging in there!

(Photo source Google)Somewhere, sometime, somehow...someone 'lifted' my ID and so I find myself in need of replacing it asap to be able to come back late April! The details matter little, my comfort level however is at its lowest!I still hope to fly off on Wednesday so prayers are very much appreciated!Praying (and keeping fingers and toes crossed!) I am on the plane home on the 19th...

13 March 2015

TREO, a nine year old Labrador shown above receiving Britain's Dickin Award for bravery and commitment in wartime.Below is a photo of his handler Sgt David Heyhoe and the loyal pooch!

In looking into history for this particular day, Friday the 13th (I don't believe in luck or bad luck myself!), I discovered many items but this one caught my attention as I am a dog lover after all!

FROM THE U T SAN DIEGO ARCHIVES:

"On this day in 1942, the Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United States Army begins training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or “K-9 Corps.”

Well over a million dogs served on both sides during World War I, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers. The most famous dog to emerge from the war was Rin Tin Tin, an abandoned puppy of German war dogs found in France in 1918 and taken to the United States, where he made his film debut in the 1922 silent film The Man from Hell’s River. As the first bona fide animal movie star, Rin Tin Tin made the little-known German Shepherd breed famous across the country.

In the United States, the practice of training dogs for military purposes was largely abandoned after World War I. When the country entered World War II in December 1941, the American Kennel Association and a group called Dogs for Defense began a movement to mobilize dog owners to donate healthy and capable animals to the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army. Training began in March 1942, and that fall the QMC was given the task of training dogs for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well.

The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian sheep dogs, Doberman Pinschers, collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Eskimo dogs. Members of the K-9 Corps were trained for a total of 8 to 12 weeks. After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or mine-detection dogs. In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach of the enemy and preventing surprise attacks.

The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender. The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart–all of which were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals."Meanwhile back across the pond...

Dogs have been used since the Middle Ages for law enforcement when monies were then set aside in the villages for the upkeep of the parish constable's bloodhounds then used for hunting down outlaws.

One of the first real attempts to use dogs to aid police in the detection of crime and the apprehension of a criminal was made in 1869 by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of London, Sir Charles Warren. Warren's repeated failures at identifying and apprehending the serial killerJack the Ripper had earned him much vilification from the press, including being denounced for not using bloodhounds to track the killer. He soon had two bloodhounds trained for the performance of a simple tracking test from the scene of another of the killer's crimes. The results were far from satisfactory, with one of the hounds biting the Commissioner and both dogs later running off, requiring a police search to find them.[3]

But it was in Continental Europe that dogs were first used on a large scale. Police in Paris began using dogs against roaming criminal gangs at night, but it was the police department in Ghent, Belgium that introduced the first organized police dog service program in 1899!

In the UK however the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment is highly involved in counter insurgency and IED (improvised explosive device) detection. Dogs search and help to clear buildings, routes and vehicles in Afghanistan. They also guard and patrol to assist and enhance security.

Five Military Working Dog Squadrons forms the Regiment which includes 284 soldiers and approximately 200 dogs!

Of course we cannot forget the SAR dogs or NSARDA!

This association was founded in 1965 when Hamish MacInnes, the team leader for Glencoe Mountain rescue Team, attended an international Red Cross Search Dog course in Switzerland.

Seeing the potential of using dogs to locate lost climbers hikers in the UK, he went home and trained his two German Shepherds Rangi and Tiki,

06 March 2015

Signs of Spring...

According to the Internet, the vernal equinox signals the beginning of nature’s renewal in the Northern Hemisphere. Worms begin to emerge from the earth, ladybugs land on screen doors, green buds appear, birds chirp, and flowers begin to bloom. AAAAAAHHHH...I can already feel the heat of the sun on my shoulders and for some of us, plans to sow seeds as soon as the earth warms up has us thumping all sorts of catalogs!

People on the East coast are still facing lots of snow however but here on the West coast, Winter has been very mild. Robins are singing in the wee morning and each evening brings us a full recital from the marshes with the frogs' songs!

With another trip to Europe (yes, I have lots of catching up to do after the last 27 years!) I thought to check out the latest fashion just to revamp a tad some of my same old, same old... I quickly realized I remain classic in my choices no matter how boring it might appears!

Here is what I found...

Photo source (HERE)No, definitively not for me! The bow (Good Heavens! Who thought of this?!) was just a tad much never mind the frilly petticoat!

Photo source (HERE)This looked much better though! I would have chosen the next size skirt myself but that's more 'me' (minus the blond locks. Oh well, I will not go that far. Grey is fine!)Then I spotted the do's and don'ts for those of us above the age of 30... There I meet the requirement!Here are 24 tips you might not know...Albeit it depends on your personal style (and if it makes you happy, whom should argue?)And if I could reinvent myself...

(Photo source: Google - Audrey Hepburn)But seriously, this is what I would want to be remember as...

In the first of a brand-new series set in Victorian England, a young woman returns home from India after the death of her family to discover her identity and inheritance are challenged by the man who holds her future in his hands.

Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her...and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca's name, but her home and incomes.

That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father's investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives—does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, will she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?

A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.

Link to Mist of Midnight on the Simon and Schuster/Howard Books Website:

My thoughts:From the first chapter Sandra Byrd grasps your attention with a mysterious plot set in Victorian England. Mist of Midnight is everything you seek in a good historical romance novel! Entertaining, intriguing and filled with details about life in the Nineteen Century. But it is her main protagonist which pulls at your heart with her stoic approach to a disturbing welcome upon her arrival on English soil. Rebecca is a survivor of the Indian mutiny and thought to find a refuge in a land she barely remembers.Upon learning an impostor arrived with her Indian maid the previous year claiming to be her, Rebecca straightens her back, lifts her head and forges ahead. Someone must remember her gentle mother or perhaps herself as a child when she last visited Headbourne House and vouch for her character? Whilst thoroughly confused but determined to find out what happened to the deceased impostor, said to have been hastily buried, Rebecca finds herself strangely attracted to Captain Whitfield, now in residence in her childhood home.Find out for yourself later this month what happens to Rebecca and her claim!Good suspense, intelligent plot and with just the right amount of historical details to make it a pleasant read!4 stars!

Meet the Author:

After earning her first rejection at the age of thirteen, bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published more than forty books.A life-long lover of Victorian Gothic romances, Sandra’s new series, Daughters of Hampshire, weaves elements of that mystical, traditional genre with inspirational and literary threads. Mist of Midnight, the series’ first book, debuts in March, 2015.For more information visit her website (HERE)

Disclaimer:I received a copy of this ARC courtesy of CBA as part of the book promotion.I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.